We enter into partnership agreements and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with outside organizations in order to colloborate on a specific project for which the partners each bring resources to the table. Partnership requests are accepted on an on-going basis. For information on partnering with the District, please contact the Executive Director using the "Contact Us" link at the top of the page; please include "Parnership Agreement" in the subject line.

Current and Prior Year Partnerships:  

City of San Jose:  We are partnering with the City of San Jose on the co-creation of climate smart communities in disadvantaged communities within their jurisdictions, with a focus on developing and implementing urban greening measures in partnership with the community. Our first partnership agreement will implement the first phase of the Zero Emissions Neighborhood (ZEN) Pilot Project (“PROJECT”), which will allow for implementation of a suite of the City's Climate Smart sustainability measures for homes located in a disadvantaged neighborhood in San José. 

San Jose Water Company:  We have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the San Jose Water Company, an investor owned public utility operating in the greater San Jose metropolitan area, to formalize a mutual initative to collaborate on watershed restoration and enhancement projects, community outreach, and public education.

Rescape: We are collaborating with ReScape, a local nonprofit providing regenerative, nature-based whole systems watershed landscaping education and workforce development, and Earth Foundries, a sustainable forest waste disposal company, on a bioswale demonstration and public education project that will be implemented at Veggielution Community Farm in San Jose.

Guadalupe River Park Conservancy (GRPC): We are collaborating with the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy and the San Jose Water Company on GRPC's Environmental Stewardship through Education & Program Scaffolding Program, a program that will deliver a calendar with diverse offerings that connect our communities to the river and each other while centering education, volunteerism, and stewardship around equity.

San Jose Community Composting Network: We are partnering with Valley Verde and the San Jose Conservation Corps + Charter School on the development of a community composting network, expansion of food waste collection services, and provision of free compost to urban farmers in disadvantaged communities through a grant from USDA-NRCS.  (ongoing)

Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Project: We partnered with Veggielution Community Farm to provide plants (provided to us through a grant with Xerces), volunteers and funding for irrigation that allowed the organization to extend its hedgerows and other pollinator habitat. (2020-21)

Chinook Salmon Natal Stream Analysis Project:: We partnered with South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition to fund laboratory analysis of the eye lenses and otoliths they collected under the authority of their collection permit with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to identify natal stream. (ongoing)

Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaborative: We provided $2,000.00 to the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council to help offset the collaborative's costs to prepare the CalFire Forest Health Grant application. (2020)

Rural Roads Program: We worked with USDA-NRCS, the Loma Prieta Resource Conservation District, CALFIRE, the Northern California Society of American Foresters, University of California Cooperative Extension, California Geologic Survey, Santa Clara County Parks, South Santa Clara County Fire District, MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District, San Jose Water Company, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District to host a workshop, conduct a field trip, and provide rural roads technical assistance through a cooperative agreement funded by USDA-NRCS. (2017-2019)

Ranchers' Outreach Program: We worked with USDA-NRCS and the Loma Prieta and San Benito Resource Conservation Districts to provide outreach and technical assistance to local ranchers through a cooperative agreement with the USDA-NRCS. (2015-2017)